Train from Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan to Mashhad, Iran launched

Iran has launched a direct passenger train service between its
northeastern city of Mashhad and Azerbaijan's isolated enclave of Nakhchivan - a
move which is expected to provide the landlocked region with a wide access to
Iran's national rail network.

The service was launched in a ceremony participated by the heads of the joint
economic commissions of Iran and Azerbaijan.

Mahmoud Vaezi, Iran's minister of communication and information technology who
is also the co-chairman of the Iran-Azerbaijan Joint Economic Commission, was
quoted by the domestic media as saying that the Mashhad-Nakhchivan train can
help promote relations - specifically tourism ties - between the two countries.

Vaezi emphasized that Tehran was determined to boost ties with Azerbaijan in
all areas, adding that the new train service between the two countries was an
important move to the same effect, Iran's IRNA news agency reported.

The train from Nakhchivan will travel to Iran's northwestern city of Tabriz
through Jolfa and thereon to Tehran and finally Mashhad on Sundays and Thursday.

Passengers boarding the train from Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan to Mashhad, Iran

The price of the ticket for a one-way trip from Nakhchivan to Mashhad (1,858
kilometers) will be 40 Swiss francs (about $38).

The tickets will be put up for sale in Azerbaijan and Iran, the media reported.

Azerbaijan's media had earlier in October reported that the country had provided
Iran with three railway carriages for Nakhchivan-Mashhad passenger train
service.

Reports had earlier also said that the train to Mashhad would operate under the
supervision of Azerbaijan Railways. The company had accordingly announced that
it planned to open offices in Iran after the launch of the train service from
Nakhchivan to Mashhad.